Friday, March 27, 2009

A Delicious Mouthwatering Journey :)

WHY DO YOU EAT?

Because you are hungry

Because it’s time to eat

Because you need energy to sustain

Because someone has cooked for you

Because you love food!

So to which category do you belong to! Think :)
Me? Hmm… if I get up early (and not having breakfast) or if I go to gym, then I certainly fall in category 1... Otherwise category 2. Never in category 4 as there is no one to cook for me :( But once I am in front of food, I fall in the category 5! Simply because I just love food!
I enjoy eating. I really enjoy eating. In fact more than eating food, I love the sight of good food. Let me correct, plenty of good food! Concept of a la carte never ever appeals to me as I need to see a lot of different verities in front of me. What brings a genuine smile on my face is - simple : lot of exotic food dishes in different color, shape and presentation!
So by this time, you must have realized that I am a foodie!!! No, well I may be called a hungry hippo! Yes I am. I am a vegetarian foodie :) and that may limit my options at times…but so far, I have never felt so except travelling abroad. Oh I love French Fries which I try to avoid eating due to calories... But having very few food options gives me good excuse to hog French Fries while I am abroad :-)
Why just talk about food? Let me take you on a culinary trip! And that too for FREE! I will share some of the best food I have eaten...So are you ready? Let’s go!
Let’s start with our national capital – Delhi.

Delhi – Paneer capital of India

As I don’t like a la carte, let’s order a Thali here. If you order a Thali anywhere in Delhi, one thing you will notice for sure - Paneer! Yeah - that’s the lifeline of most of vegetarians in this part of the country. I confess : even I can’t resist Paneer in Delhi :).. Just imagine fresh and soft paneer cubes covered with spicy gravy with tang of sweetness.. Along with Parantha or Rotis with butter on it! Simply YUMMY!
If you like paneer, you can also eat Paneer Bhurji and Palak Paneer and Matar Paneer and Kadai Paneer and Chilly Paneer and Paneer and Paneer and Paneer!
If not paneer, then other delicious options are Daal Makhni, Rajma, Chole, Aaloo Gobi, Daal Fry and Basmati Rice. Help yourself :)

Yummy Paneer Masala

Heavenly Lassi!

What should you drink with Thali? Uh huh -no Coke.. no Pepsi. It’s our very own cold sweet Lassi with malai or butter in it! Man, you must drink it once to know how heavenly it feels while drinking it and after drinking it! You are bound to fall asleep….zzzzzzzzzz.
Take a nap. After you are awake, we will walk to the next destination – Rajasthan – Land of history, forts, and desert.

Rajasthan – Land of Daal Baati

Daal Baati with Churma

Do some exercise and digest all Paneer because now, you will be relishing Daal Baati with Churma.. Let’s start!
Crush Baati [made of wheat and fried in pure Ghee] into small pieces and mix it with Daal and what will you have as topping? Pure Ghee! :) You eat couple of them and you are FULL! You also have sweet Churma accomplishing Daal and Baati and yeah, don’t forget Ghee topping on Churma as well :)
Hmmm… it’s okay. You might need to loosen your waist best after eating so much :) I can see you have already put on some weight! And guess what, there is no respite! Because now we will be walking to Gujarat – my home state!

Gujarat – Food, food and more food!

Which is the best way to taste Gujarati food? Walk into any Gujarati restaurant serving Thali. Remember 1) It’s always pure vegetarian food. There is not a single non vegetarian dish in Gujarati cuisine 2) There is no menu card because only option you have is Thali.
Let’s see how it is..
I bet you will be half filled even before you take first morsel. Why? Just by looking at number of verities in front of you! Start counting –

4 different vegetable curries

1 spicy Daal

1 sweet Daal

1 sweet Kadhi

3 types of Rotis

2 Farsan [Namkin items like Samosa, Dhokla, Pakoda]

2 types of Chatni

At least 1 sweet item

Rice

Khichdi

Salad

Papad

Pickle

Buttermilk

Gujarati Thali

What do I do? I wait for the waiter to server all items and then take out the camera and take a picture :)… and then? Start hogging!
Take your own time while eating. I take a break while eating. Rest for 5 min and then start the next round! Why? Pet bhar gaya par dil nahi bhara yaar :)

Dhokla

Let’s rest. It’s my state and I will take you home so you have enough rest to digest food before we walk to the next state - Maharashtra

Khakra

Maharashtra – Pav Bhaji, Vada Pav and Poha

Pav Bhaji

Pav Bhaji - Invented in Mumbai and invaded entire country. You will find this dish at every nook and corner of the country.

Spicy Bhaji

Semi Fried Pav

Coriander garnishing

Slice of lemon

Chopped onion

Start Hogging

Kanda Poha

I love Poha for breakfast especially when I visit Pune. Wake up and enjoy lazy morning. Walk to the nearest shop selling Poha. Occupy those plastic tables to sit. Order plate of Poha with hot Chaai. Talk with friends till Poha and Tea arrives. Indulge into kanda Pona with Sev on top of it and sip hot Chaai in between.
Heavenly morning.
After breakfast, let's walk down to South and explore cuisine of Southern India - which is lot more than just Idli and Dosa.

Vada Pav

Karnataka

Karnataka was my first experience of taste South Indian food - apart from Idli and Dosa. I would like you to taste Bilibele Bath.
What is Bisibele Bath?
Bisi means hot. Bele is Daal and Bath is Rice. So in a way, it’s hot Daal and Rice cooked together but it has its own unique taste. It’s served with Potato chips and I love to have curd along with this hot and colorful dish.

Bisibele Bhath

Akki Roti with Chatni

Another favorite item of mine is Akki Roti. It’s made of Rice flour. Add some chili, ginger, coriander leaves, and onion in the dough. It will turn out awesome Akki Roti when cooked!
Have homemade Chatni along with Akki Roti and you will surely remember me when you keep on eating this simple and tasty dish!
Now time to go to very special place. God’s own country!

Kerala – God’s own country having its own cuisine

Sadhya

Let me confess. My first couple of encounters with Kerala food were simply disaster. Restaurants were filled with smell of Fish and I had hard time eating brown rice.
Then came pleasant surprise. Sadhya – Special vegetarian meal cooked during Onam festival.
Sit in front of banana leaf and keep on counting item served one after another. What is the best part of such experience? Joy and Curiosity. Joy – because there are so many items and Curiosity – because you are always curious to know what is the next item :)

Another Kerala specialty is Appam. Soft Rotis made from Rice which is slight fluffy from the center. Eat with Chatni / Curry / Coconut milk.
Kerala food is unique in terms of taste and items. You need to cultivate the taste and you might have tough time if you are vegetarian. I am lucky to have a colleague [Sreekumar] who is from Kerala, is married, brings his lunch and have a big heart to share it with me :)
Now let’s jump to the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu.

Appam

Tamil Nadu

I didn’t get many chances to taste food in Tamil Nadu but I have tasted food @ Sarvanan Bhavan in Chennai and I loved it.
Best Tamilian food I have tasted was in Bangalore. Go to Koramangala. Locate Anand sweets. There is a restaurant next to Anand sweets. Go inside and order a meal. Wait for all items to arrive and then, have fun!
Another item I really liked is Ghee Dosa. Even from a distance, you get fragrance of pure Ghee! Half of the price is just for that and rest is for the Dosa :)
I love Bangalore. So let’s spend some time in this beautiful city and then travel to Andhra Pradesh.

Tamil Meal

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Meal

Andhra meal. Served on banana leaf. Eat Rice with Ghee and gun powder :) and then with Daal (called Pappu) and then with Sambhar and then with Rasam and then Curd.
Something to notice is amazing verities of Chatni and Pickles.
This food is certainly very very spicy. When I find talk about spicy food at the hotels, my colleagues always remind me that homemade Andhra food is even spicier then what I eat at the hotels!

I have never eaten so much of Biryani as I have in last three years. Biryani is a non vegetarian delicacy. The vegetarian variant is not true form of Biryani but what the heck, I am happy eating that.
The best Biryani I had was at Copper Chimney @ Hyderabad Central.

Veg Biryani

The End. So here ends our culinary trip. Started from the capital of the country and ended in Hyderabad where I am staying at present. I hope you enjoyed the trip and explored some of the best food this country has to offer. Oh forgot to mention few of my favorite dishes! No description needed. Just pictures are enough!

Delicious Mango Pulp!

Mouth watering Pani Puri!

Ever green Chaat!

Crunchy crispy French Fries

Cold Kheer filled with Dry Fruits

Dal Dhokli

So how to taste different verities?

Friends!If you want to explore food eaten in different parts of India, nothing gives you better chance than a group of colleagues from different part of this diverse country! Ask my colleagues :) At lunch table, my plate looks most exciting as I take (grab / snatch) my share from their homemade food! Have you seen map of India? How beautifully different states are placed next to each other…Just like that, all Indian states (Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, North India...) sit next to each other in my plate :)

Marriage PartiesThat’s the best bet to taste local food. Just pray you make friends / have colleagues from different parts of the country and hope they are single and get married soon! That will be your change to taste authentic local food :)

10 comments:

hey Mihir, i admire u for whatever u write, let it be yummy food, a lovely journey, rain, etc etc. I always get completely lost when ever i go through ur blog (on ur demand :)).I can also help u in choosing next topic of ur blog which can be based upon, jeevan sathi.com experiences,funny conversations.Donot forget to make me part of that blog :)

never knew u got to eat so much of variety till now !! wonder y u not in a food related career..a food critic to be exact...this way u wud get to eat each n every food cooked in every lane of every town in every state !! Amen ! rh.

hey Mihir..!!! so u here again with another yummy topic to talk abt...well this time too as usual ur "a hit" dat was a fantastic potray of ur taste bud's inner feelings ;-) ....u know writer is said to be a gud writer only wen a reader is involved throughly n wants to finish it up in one go...n till now u hv maintained it pretty well..gud luck for the nxt blog..do pay attention to "kalindi's" suggesstion for the topic ;-)..i agreeee to her..this must be fun...cheers !!!! n waiting to read more frm ur side...

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